MUMBAI MIRROR (February 26, 2019)

The director of Luka Chuppi, Laxman Utekar, who has worked as a DoP in several big films, including 102 Not Out, Dear Zindagi, English Vinglish and Hindi Medium, says he has learnt things from everyone he’s shot with. “When you work with Shah Rukh Khan, you learn decency. He is a thorough gentleman, knows how to talk to people and handle them,” he asserts, adding, “(Amitabh) Bachchan saab’s maturity and experience reflect in his behaviour too.”

Laxman, who has helmed Marathi films like Tapaal and Lalbaugchi Rani, makes his Hindi debut with Dinesh Vijan’s Luka Chuppi. He’s very impressed with his lead actors, Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon as well. “I hadn’t seen too much of their work before our reading session but I understood their sensibilities from the kind of questions they were asking and the nuances they would discuss. It made me happy. In our industry, you will find actors who are good looking but not good performers and vice versa,” he points out.

The romcom, set in Mathura, chronicles the story of a couple in a live-in relationship and how family dynamics come into play. Recently, filmmakers have focussed their lens on the hinterland and Laxman reasons that across the world, audience’s choices change every three years. “Right now, they want to see Indian culture and colour which was absent from the screen until Aanand L Rai’s Raanjhanaa,” he asserts. “After every 100 km we have a different dialect and culture in India. People want to see all that today. This trend will continue for three years, then, could change again.”